Page 130 - The CNN Effect in Action - How the News Media Pushed the West toward War ini Kosovo

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THE CNN EFFECT IN ACTION
be tied to other factors outside media influence and were largely based
on government-driven initiatives. The first of these centered on
NATO’s Operation Determined Falcon on June 15, 1998—an air exer-
cise in which NATO jets flew over Kosovo’s borders with Albania and
Macedonia, signaling NATO’s willingness to take action if necessary.
Unlike the unexpected incidents, such as the Drenica massacre of
March, this heightened level of activity was based on a very different
pattern that was built over time and was driven by events that were
planned by the West. There were no emotive and reactionary con-
demnations as seen after the massacres and no attempts at implement-
ing a radically different solution. The nature of these government
activities was largely incremental.
The second increase in activity outside the CNN effect occurred dur-
ing the week of September 20, with the passage of important resolutions
at both the UN and NATO. Although no single event accounts for the
timing of these two actions, a massive counteroffensive against the
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in August and September had emptied
hundreds of villages and uprooted several hundred thousand people,
7
many of whom were stranded in hillside camps in southern Kosovo.
The third government-driven spike centered on the Rambouillet
Conference of February 1999. This event, and especially the arrival of 6
U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright several weeks after its initia-
tion, was the basis of further heightened government activity not related
to the CNN effect. A final attempt to pressure the Serbian side to agree
to the West’s plan through last minute shuttle diplomacy during the last
week before the NATO military campaign was the basis of the fourth
and final spike that was not related to the CNN effect.
Media Coverage versus Government Actions
Graph 6.2 compares Kosovo media coverage and government activ-
ity in the West over the period under review. It shows that many of
the periods of heightened media coverage also involved greater gov-
ernment activity. The main exception to this occurred during the
third week of September 1998 when government actions generated
only limited media coverage. Similarly, above-average government
activity from late April 1998 until early August 1998 generated little
media activity, except during Operation Determined Falcon in
mid-June.
In addressing the question “Who leads whom?” between the media
and government over these spikes, the content of the media’s cover-
age was examined to determine if references were made to official